Brek Shea made another appearance in Stoke City's loss to West Ham United, while Seb Hines and Middlesbrough notched a pivotal victory over Championship leaders Cardiff City.

Stoke City 0 - 1 West Ham United

The Potters have now lost five out of their last seven games, falling to the Premiership's worst road team West Ham United.

Geoff Cameron dressed but surprisingly did not feature for the Potters, while Brek Shea came on in the 66th minute as Stoke pushed for an equalizer.

The only goal of the game came in first half stoppage time when West Ham's James Collins scored off of a Ricardo Vaz Te through ball.

Stoke hopes to break their skid of under par games with a win at Newcastle United next week.

Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Cardiff City

Seb Hines was back in Middlesbrough's starting lineup as they beat Championship leaders' Cardiff City.

After 13 minutes Boro was on the board as Kieron Dyer scored off of an Ishmael Miller pass, and just four minutes later Middlesbrough doubled their lead when Sammy Ameobi curled in a ball into the back of the net.

In the 67th minute Aron Gunnarsson headed home to cut the home team's lead in half and put the momentum back to the away team, but despite dominating play in the final minutes though, Cardiff was unable to equalize and Boro went on to upset the Bluebirds.

Middlesbrough is now just one point from the last playoff position and will look for another victory on Tuesday against Huddersfield Town.

Hull City 5 - 2 Birmingham City

Jonathan Spector went the full ninety minutes in Birmingham City's big loss to Hull City.

It was an easy win for the now second place Tigers, as they were up 5 - 0 before the Blues scored in the final minutes of the game.

George Boyd scored a brace, tallying in the first and 33rd minutes, while Mohamed Gedo also scored twice, in the 11th and 76th minutes. Robert Koren also notched for Hull in the 76th minute.

Peter Lovenkrands was able to get one back for the Blues in the 83rd minute, while Chris Burke made the scoreline a bit more respectable to a goal in the 87th minute.

The Blues are six points above the drop zone and look to separate themselves some more with a win at home against Blackpool on Tuesday.

Notts County 1 - 0 Carlisle United

Frank Simek went the distance in Carlisle United's loss to Notts County.

Alan Judge scored the lone goal in the game for Notts County, but the six saves from their 'keeper Bartosz Bialkowski helped cement the important victory.

The Cumbrians' Lee Miller received a red card in the final moments of the match.

Carlisle has now gone five games winless and are just five points above the relegation zone. They look to get off their skid against Crawley Town on Tuesday.

Notes

Tim Howard was a late injury scratch for Everton's 3-1 win over Reading, ending his streak of starts at 210.

Clint Dempsey did not feature because of injury in Tottenham's 2-1 win over Arsenal.

Conor Doyle did not leave the bench in Derby County's 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace.

Stuart Holden dressed but did not play in Bolton's pulsating 3-2 away win over Barnsley, while Tim Ream did not make the game day roster for the Trotters.

Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Leicester City's 1-0 defeat to Ipswich Town.

Mike Grella played the final ten minutes in Scunthorpe United's 1-0 loss to Brentford.